Destiny Called But I Forgot to Pick Up the Phone
by nicnac918
Summary: Five times Lex defied his fate and one time Clark did.


A/N: FFN always eats my parenthesis. THe correctly formated title is: Destiny Called (But I Forgot to Pick Up the Phone).

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><p>5.<p>

After his father leaves the hospital room, Lex is left alone to his thoughts. He's not sure how much of that dream was real and how much was the product of whatever pain medication they have him on, but he knows two things for sure. The first is that, fevered dreams or no, it had taken him being a good man to win Lana and the Kents over. The second was that it would take a powerful man to keep them safe.

Griff shows up later and Lex already knows what answer he wants to give him. "Much like Ebenezer Scrooge I realize, that what I want more than anything is to live happily ever after. Deal's off."

If it takes a good man to get them and a powerful man to keep them, then Lex will just have to be both.

4.

Calling Lex excited when the x-ray of the manuscript finds the map hidden underneath would be an understatement. He may have lost the first stone, but he's well on his way to finding the second. He finds himself sitting in front of his computer for long stretches at a time, trying to unlock the mysteries hidden within.

It's when Clark comes in and expresses his surprise at the manuscript's return that Lex recognizes his behavior. He's doing the exact same thing that lead to the creation of That Room and if he keeps it up he could lose Clark's friendship again, maybe for good this time.

"I thought you'd like to know I had the manuscript page examined by a team of experts as soon as it turned up. I have some interesting things to show you when we started studying it tomorrow."

3.

Sometime between when Lex murders his imaginary friend and when he gets back to civilization, he comes to a decision. His life is absolutely and undeniably messed up. His father's a dick, he killed his little brother in a fit of pre-pubescent jealousy, he's nearly died at least ten times himself, _not_ counting various incidents of alcohol poisoning and drug overdose, he drinks like a fish, and his best and only friend is a sixteen year old kid. He needs help, the professional kind.

When Lex needs a psych evaluation for work he makes a show of hiring his therapist and then firing him again after he signs off on Lex's mental state. His father never finds out about the sessions, and Lex is finally getting the help he needs.

2.

Lex doesn't intend on staying at the Kent farm for long. He gives himself three days before he can re-convince Lucas to team up together against Lionel. Failing that, he thinks it'll be a week before his father comes swanning in, all false smiles and condescending lectures about teaching Lex a lesson.

It's not until he's in the middle of mucking out a stall that Lex realizes he doesn't have to take this. There are at least three companies that will be willing to hire him on the possible LuthorCorp secrets he could reveal alone. Factor in his experience as a CEO and he can probably add a half dozen more. Hell, he could probably even guilt Oliver Queen into giving him a job if it comes to that, though that might be worse than going back to his father.

When Clark comes in a few days later brandishing adoption papers and conspiracy theories, Lex just laughs.

1.

The first time he sees the Porsche after the accident he knows something suspicious is going on. The windshield shouldn't be broken like that, not unless he hit something – someone –, and he's fairly certain that car roofs don't just rip off. He grabs the phone, planning on calling every specialist and expert he can find to try to figure out what really happened.

But then he stops and thinks for a moment. He thinks about life-saving farm boys and bright red blankets, about second chances and fresh starts.

He calls his body shop instead.

0.

"I could've sworn I hit you."

The guy looks confused and scared and Lex belatedly realizes that that was probably not the best response to someone saving his life. The silence stretches between them and Lex tentatively reaches out to touch the guys arm, trying to think of someway to say "thank you" that doesn't sound completely trite and meaningless. As soon as his fingers make contact, however, the guy's face transforms into an expression of pride and fierce defiance that Lex wishes he could bottle and use on his father sometime.

"That's because you did."


End file.
